Search ends as body of 16-year-old boy swept out to sea is recovered

Reece Sweeney: He has been formally identified.

Police searching for a teenage boy who was apparently swept out to sea have recovered his body.

Reece Sweeney, 16, was in the water at Banff Bay in Aberdeenshire with two friends when he vanished in the early hours of Saturday. It is believed he was swept away by a wave.

The search, which involved the coastguard, RNLI lifeboats, an air/sea rescue helicopter and a Grampian Police underwater search team, found no trace of the missing teenager on Saturday.

Further searches were carried out on Sunday morning by police officers and the coastguard and Grampian Police later confirmed the discovery of a body. It has since been identified as belonging to the teenager.

A police spokesperson said: "Grampian Police can now advise that the body of a young male recovered near the shoreline at Banff Bay, Banff, following a Police and Coastgaurd search earlier today, has been formally identified as Reece Sweeney (16), from the local area.

"Reece was reported missing during the early hours of Saturday 21 July 2012, having been last seen near the mouth of the River Deveron. A report will be forwarded to the Procurator Fiscal."

The ambulance service received a call at about 2.30am on Saturday, saying that somebody was in the water and in need of help.

The emergency call was forwarded to the coastguard at Aberdeen. Coastguard teams from Buckie, Portsoy, Banff and Gardenstown; the Macduff and Buckie RNLI lifeboats and a rescue helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth were all involved in the search operation at some stage.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has reminded members of the public to call 999 and ask for the coastguard if they get into difficulty on or along the coast.

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